NEWS

One day before the U.S. Supreme Court opened new spigots of campaign cash, well-funded groups seeking to sway elections in two northern Wisconsin counties, Polk and Iron, inadvertently drove home another point: Throwing money into the process can hurt as well as help. >More

Years after its tenants were evicted, the fate of the Drumlin Farm remains in limbo. The five-acre farm is wedged between Rimrock Road and Highway 14 in the city of Fitchburg. The Alexander Company bought the property about a decade ago for its Novation Campus. The tenants at the time were running a community garden and CSA and protested the eviction, but eventually left in September 2009. >More

The arrival of the emerald ash borer within the city of Madison was brought home to me a few weeks ago through the stark buzzing of a chainsaw. A crew took down a good-sized ash in the park next to my house. It was a tree I had never paid much attention to before, but now its raw stump, spray-painted orange, remains as a rebuke to my thoughtlessness. >More

Michael Flores -- firefighter, paramedic, parent, and school volunteer -- scored a decisive victory over Wayne Strong in the race for Seat 6 on the Madison school board. With 100% of precincts reporting, county tallies showed Flores at 62.4% (16,016 votes) over Strong's 36.9% (9,472). The scene at Flores' victory party at the Harmony Bar was festive and family-oriented. >More

Liberals snatched up six of the seven contested seats on Dane County's Board of Supervisors in the spring 2014 election, bringing them within striking distance of a 100% supermajority. In the closely watched, and highly symbolic, District 21 race, labor attorney Andrew Schauer crushed 10-term incumbent David Wiganowsky, ending the supervisor's 20-year run representing a once reliably conservative swath of the county. >More

Isthmus staff writer Joe Tarr reported on how the Second Chance Bill failed in the Wisconsin Legislature despite bipartisan support in the March 28 issue, and discussed his story with WORT producer Dylan Brogan on the March 27 edition of In Our Backyard. >More

It's sometimes said that a legislative outcome criticized by opposing sides has struck the perfect balance. By that standard, Senate Bill 655 is a triumph. The omnibus campaign financing bill, which passed both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker on March 27, has been assailed for both its process and its substance. >More

Lothlorien will live to fight another day. The fire-damaged, four-story cooperative house on Lake Mendota has been spared -- for now -- after members from 11 sister cooperatives voted over the past week not to sell it. >More

Dane County Judge Peter Anderson might have been looking for some numbers when he asked the Wisconsin Department of Justice to estimate the costs and benefits of prosecuting Capitol tickets. But that's not what he got. In a response filed March 27, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Daniel P. Lennington argued that enforcing the "rule of law" has value beyond "reducing monetary enforcement expenses" to all citizens. >More

It has the makings of a Greek tragedy, where the flawed protagonist unwittingly becomes the agent of unanticipated disaster. Last fall state legislators forcefully urged the Wisconsin Worker's Compensation Advisory Council to rein in related medical costs. These have risen more rapidly in Wisconsin than other states and constitute the lion's share of payments made under the state's program for those injured or disabled at work. >More